Redemption
by 2phive8
Summary: Love redeems all, no matter how unworthy they think they are. Sequel to Eden


Redemption

AN: One of the first things I thought after finishing 'Eden' was 'What would Coraline do after this? What about Wybie?' And after reading everyone's wonderful reviews I just knew I had to do this. You guys have such sway over me XD

Disclaimer: I don't own Coraline: talk to Neil Gaiman/Laika Studios.

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The beauty of a dream is in its fleeting nature--and after lingering far too long, the Other world had become a nightmare.

Having tasted the fruit of knowledge, and now a little wiser for her trouble, Coraline knew that she had to return to reality.

The Other Mother, overconfident, had allowed her to go home--

Only to have the tiny door slammed in her face, locked tight, key thrown into a bottomless pit.

If only regrets were so easy to be rid of.

Coraline tried her best to be mature about her situation: after all, she was a _woman_ now, wasn't she?

But as she crawled back into her real bed, with her stuffed animals and toys strewn about the floor, she felt very much like a child.

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For weeks, Wybie was avoided at all costs. At first the boy kept coming around, plaintive, questioning, confused--but Coraline showed him no mercy.

It was the only way to protect him from what she'd done.

She said nothing of her time in the Other world, and never went into the parlor again; she wanted desperately to undo the past, but failing that the next best thing was to pretend it had never happened.

But mothers, real or otherwise, know their daughters better than anyone.

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It happened suddenly; one moment Coraline was foraging for breakfast while her mother sat at the table working, and the next the girl was kneeling on the floor, head in her mother's lap and sobbing.

Where the Other Mother would have offered gifts and honeyed words of sympathy, her real mother said little and moved only to stroke her daughter's hair softly.

And yet, her mere presence was more comforting than any amount of treats or distractions, accepting with silence what the Other would have denied with savagery.

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Coraline wasn't expecting Wybie to appear suddenly one afternoon while she was working in the garden.

Hadn't thought that he might pull her up and drag her into the woods.

Couldn't possibly have guessed he'd trap her between a tree-trunk and his body, demanding to know: why, why, why?

Never would have dreamed she'd collapse into his arms and confess her sins to him, acknowledging her wrongs and begging him to make them right.

Because she was selfish.

Coraline loved herself enough to tell him she loved him, and always had.

Admit that she'd been too hasty, too afraid of rejection.

Recognize that she had taken the easy way out with the one she knew wouldn't turn her away, because he _couldn't_.

Selfishly making _him_ choose, making him take on responsibility for her actions, asking him to judge her and yet pleading for him to rule in her favor.

She gave him power: the power to destroy her, or to save her.

And Wybie took his time to think, before raising a trembling hand to her chest and letting it settle over her heart. "I don't care."

She stared at him, breathless.

His gloved fingers pressed deeply into her skin, feeling her life's blood pumping through the leather, knowing its heavy beating was for him. "…As long as _this_ is mine, nothing else matters."

She shivered under his touch. "It isn't much, but it's yours if you want it."

He dragged his palm away slowly, fisting it, bringing it to his lips and kissing his knuckles as if to seal the treasure inside. "Don't expect it back."

She was lost to him forever, and as such had found her rightful place.

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Coraline may have already had sex, but she made love for the first time that night.

Wybie's mouth was hot and sweet, so genuine in its untried clumsiness and fervent desire to learn; his breath mingled with hers in a damp mist that grazed her cheek like the fluttering of a moth's wing.

His face burned with embarrassment as he bared his wiry frame to her hungry eyes, then flushed with pleasure as she let him know he had no reason to feel ashamed.

Even at the height of passion he talked; he whispered how happy he was, groaned how good he felt, shouted how much he loved her.

She drank in his words greedily, knowing she didn't deserve him and more than willing to keep him anyway. He was pure and natural and _right_, and maybe someday she would be, too.

Afterward, as they lay entangled in a sweaty, satisfied embrace, she dropped her head to his chest and listened.

_Thump, thump, thump…_

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AN: I usually listen to music while I write, but for this and 'Eden' I typed in silence. Hmm.

I tried to create a 'negative' space in the first one--lots of 'no/not/never'-s, ect. Here, I went for the opposite, trying to emphasize how much the real world/real people have to offer. Yay juxtaposition! Hopefully a fraction of what I tried to say actually translated over XD

I hope you enjoyed this follow-up, everyone. People aren't perfect, but true love always wins the day, even if it doesn't make everything all better :)

---258.


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